Loop from Evora

01 Archaeology

Almendres Cromlech

Cromeleque dos Almendres

Walk among some 95 granite monoliths, the largest group of menhirs on the Iberian Peninsula, arranged in ellipses. The first date back to the 6th millennium BC, and a few stones still bear engraved circles and lines. Set apart, a lone menhir roughly marks the sunrise at the winter solstice.

02 Archaeology

Roman Temple of Évora

Templo romano de Évora

At the highest point of the Roman town, the Temple of Évora, wrongly attributed to Diana, keeps 14 Corinthian columns on its podium. Their granite shafts carry acanthus capitals in white Estremoz marble, carved by unequal hands. Walk around the podium to the north side, where six intact columns retain pieces of architrave.

03 Church

Cathedral of Évora

Sé Catedral de Évora

At the highest point of Évora, the largest medieval cathedral in Portugal raises two massive towers of pink granite. Its portal is adorned with large statues of apostles carved in the 1330s, a Gothic ensemble of free-standing figures rare in Portugal. Then look up at the lantern tower, ringed by six turrets that repeat it in miniature.

04 Church

Capela dos Ossos

In the 16th century, Franciscans in Évora emptied the town's overflowing cemeteries to line this chapel with rows of skulls and long bones. Some 5,000 skeletons thus cover walls and pillars, in a half-light filtered through four narrow openings. From the threshold, read the warning of the bones that await your own.

05 Archaeology

Roman ruins of São Cucufate

Sítio Arqueológico de São Cucufate

Unusually, this Roman villa rises on two levels, with the storerooms and the press below and the master's house above. Its temple became an early Christian basilica and the house sheltered two monasteries, which explains its remarkable state of preservation. Walk round the villa to see the round arches that carried the rear gallery.

06 Castle

Castle of Beja

Castelo de Beja

Begun under Dinis in 1310, the keep of Beja dominates the town and reopened in 2016 after part of its merlons fell. Climb to the top to see the Alentejo plain stretching out all around. Within the walls, the Casa do Governador houses sculptures by Jorge Vieira.

07 Castle

Castle of Mertola

Castelo de Mértola

Mértola was among the strongest fortresses of Gharb al-Andalus, where the Guadiana ceased to be navigable. Climb from the church, a former mosque, up to the alcáçova above it, and watch the river glide past the foot of the walls. Retaken by the Christians in 1238, the fortress was rebuilt while keeping a large part of the Islamic works.

08 Village

São Domingos Mine

Mina de São Domingos

Worked from Roman times and then intensively until the 1960s, this mine left behind a vast flooded pit and a workers' village. The acidic waters, tinged red and ochre, recall the damage left by the slag. From the path, look at the ruins of Achada do Gamo, where the ore was processed before reaching the Guadiana.

09 Castle

Castle of Serpa

Castelo de Serpa

Above Serpa, after the charter of 1295, Dinis rebuilt the old Muslim fortress, keeping part of its rammed-earth walls. In 1707, the Spanish troops of the Duke of Osuna blew up the powder magazine as they left, and a tower collapsed. Pass through the entrance looking up at the huge section of wall still leaning overhead.

10 Monument

Alqueva Dam

Barragem de Alqueva

Closed in February 2002, the Alqueva floodgates turned the Guadiana into a reservoir able to cover 250 square kilometres, the largest artificial lake in Western Europe. The submerged village of Luz was rebuilt elsewhere for its inhabitants. From the shore, gauge the 96-metre-high concrete curve that holds back these waters.

11 Castle

Castelo de Monsaraz

On its hill above the Guadiana, Monsaraz keeps a schist castle whose keep was rebuilt under Dinis from 1310. In 1830, the townspeople took materials from the parade ground to build a bullring, still set within the walls. Go up to the parapet to see the Alqueva lake stretching towards Spain.

12 Castle

Castle of Terena

Castelo de Terena

Climb to the top of the hill, where this castle held the Guadiana line together with Juromenha, Alandroal, Monsaraz and Mourão. Its irregular pentagonal enclosure, flanked by four round towers, protects a square keep and a bent entrance attributed to the Arruda brothers around 1514. Every year, a medieval tournament is re-enacted here.

13 Museum

Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa

Paço Ducal de Vila Viçosa

For centuries, this Alentejo palace was home to the Braganzas, rulers of Portugal from 1640 to 1910. Step back across the square to take in the marble façade, punctuated by Tuscan then Ionic capitals. On 1 February 1908, King Carlos I left from here for Lisbon, where he was assassinated the same day.

14 Monument

Amoreira Aqueduct

Aqueduto da Amoreira

Begun in 1529 and often interrupted for lack of money, the aqueduct carried water to Elvas from the Amoreira spring, some eight kilometres away. The water reached the town in 1620, before the Misericórdia fountain was inaugurated in 1622. Follow with your eyes the line of its arches across the Alentejo countryside.

15 Castle

Castle of Elvas

Castelo de Elvas

At the top of Elvas, at 320 metres, this castle still keeps sections of the walls built by the Muslims. Over the entrance gate you'll recognise the arms of John II, who had the keep rebuilt in 1488. The country's first classified national monument, in 1906, it overlooks a fortified town listed by UNESCO.

16 Archaeology

Nossa Senhora da Graça Fort

Forte de Nossa Senhora da Graça

Look up at Monte da Graça: Count Lippe had its summit crowned with a fort designed to be impregnable, completed in 1792. Four pentagonal bastions flank its square plan, around a circular keep. Above the Dragon Gate, two stone cannons recall the Spanish guns that bombarded Elvas from this summit.

17 Church

Sé de Portalegre

Designed by Afonso Álvares, Portalegre cathedral was begun in 1556 on the initiative of Bishop Julião de Alva. Reopened in 2023 after restoration, it reveals rediscovered wall paintings from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. Linger in front of its marble pulpits and the screen of the same material that closes off the choir.

18 Museum

Roman villa of Ammaia

Ammaia

In the hollow of a valley in the Serra de São Mamede, Ammaia was a Roman city of Lusitania, abandoned for Marvão, perched higher up. Follow the Cardo Maximus from the south gate to the paved square of the forum. Identified in 1935 by Leite de Vasconcelos, it had been supplying its stones to the churches of Portalegre since the 16th century.

19 Castle

Castle of Marvão

Castelo de Marvão

On a granite ridge of the Serra de São Mamede, Marvão castle is attributed to Ibn Marwan in the 9th century. Follow its ramparts up to the keep built under Dinis, from where the view stretches far over the Spanish border. Its walls hug the rock and withstood Spanish assaults in 1641 and 1648.

20 Church

Synagogue of Castelo de Vide

Sinagoga Medieval de Castelo de Vide

On the corner of Rua da Judiaria, this late 14th-century house holds one of the two medieval synagogues in Portugal. Three pointed-arch doorways and the notch of a mezuzah betray a place built to stay discreet. In the small museum opened in 2019, you'll find the Torah ark rediscovered in 1972.

21 Castle

Castle of Estremoz

Castelo de Estremoz

In the royal palace of Estremoz, built by King Dinis near the castle, the holy queen Isabel died in 1336. Pick out the keep, raised around 1260 on the hill and completed around 1370. After the victories over Spain, the regent Luísa de Gusmão turned the saint's apartments into a chapel.

22 Castle

Castle of Evoramonte

Castelo de Évora Monte

On an escarpment of the Serra d'Ossa, the keep of Évora Monte gathers its four round towers into a massive block. Follow the carved rope that girdles its three storeys, Francisco de Arruda's Manueline signature. Here, on 26 May 1834, the convention that ended the Liberal Wars was signed.